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Real edges out Atletico on penalties to clinch Champions League title

SAN SIRO- Cristiano Ronaldo saved the Real Madrid in hitting the last penalty kick to defeat their city rivals Atletico Madrid, Real edges out Atletico on penalties to clinch Champions League title 1-1 (5-3 in penalty shootout), to win the 2015-2016 Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Champions League for the 11th time last night at Milan, Italy. In the shootout, Lucas Vasquez, Marcelo and Gareth Bale of Real each scored on their shots, with Antoine Griezmann, Gabi and Saul Niguez replying for Atletico to make it 3-3. Sergio Ramos stepped up to strike the ball to the goal to push real ahead, 4-3. Atletico has a chance to tie the match but Juanfran missed on a potential game-tying goal that hit the post, leaving Ronaldo with the chance to win the cup.

Ronaldo didn’t fail and he kept his composure as he scored the winning shot to seal the deal for Real and secure his third Champions league title following from his successes with Manchester United and Real in 2008 and 2014 respectively. Ronaldo is the Champions league leading scorer with a total record of 16 goals this season. Also, Ramos became the fifth player to score in two different Champions League finals. Earlier in the match, Ramos made a controversial finish to put Zinedine Zidane’s squad ahead, 1-0 as they looked confident to an easy victory before Atletico stirker Griezmann missed a penalty to put their title chances still in jeopardy. However, substitute Yannick Carasco sent the Champions League final into extra time with a close-range finish, 1-1. This was the eight Champions league final to go to extra time and seventh to go to a penalty shootout.

Real edged out Atletico on penalties to clinch Champions League title once again

Real edges out Atletico on penalties to clinch Champions League title

Zidane, a former star player of France national football team, won a Champions League as a player when he was still playing for Real in 2002, assistant coach and head coach. He is the second man after Miguel Munoz to win the Champions League title as both player and team manager at the same time and also the first French manager to win the European Cup. He replaced Rafael Benitez as manager at Bernabeu in January, with Real still reeling from a brutal 4-0 hammering by their arch-rivals Barcelona F.C earlier in the season.They were just impressive at the back as Atletico’s attacking duo of Greizmann and Spanish Fernando Torres were starved of service before the interval. Bale and Ronaldo reportedly dropped back into midfield to help cut out the supply routes to Griezmann and Torres. On the other hand, Karim Benzema also typified Real’s work rate by doing his defensive duties. Meanwhile, Bale was excellent and also one of the orchestrators of Real’s first-half domination and he is powerful going forward and quick to help out at the back when required.

Despite having an effort cleared off the line, Bale faded after the break and spent most of extra-time limping around the pitch. Yet, he still made himself calm and collected in the penalty shootout and scored with a cool, low finish to help his team to a famous win. On the other side, Griezmann became more dangerous but a miss in a penalty proved to be a crucial one even though Carrasco later leveled after Juanfran’s brilliant volleyed cross. Real edges out Atletico on penalties to clinch Champions League title This is the third time that Atletico reached the Champions League final and failed to win yet the squad’s future remains bright, with Simone will likely to be in charge next season despite interest from Barclays Premier League clubs. Diego Simeone lost his second Champions league as a manager behind Marcelo Lippi with three.